Telegraphone



C. 17, 1950 T, M, SHRADER 2,526,051

TELEGRAPHONE Filed sept. 17, 1946 1 l1 i z2 y a [l 1W 3uvcntor Cttomeg E ggg/MM Patented Oct. 17, 1950 'rei-ry' M. sin-ader, Indianapolis, Ina., assignmto. 4

Radio Corporation of Americana corporation o! Delaware Application' september 17, l194s, serial No. 697,590

4 Claims. (Cl, 242-158) 1 This invention relates to' improvements in telegraphones of the type employing magneticwire records.

In modern telegraphones employingmagneticwire records the diillculties incident to threading and storing the wire are minimized by mounting the wire, and the storage and take-up reels therefor, in a magazine or cartridg'eso that the wire may be brought into the recording or playing position simply by inserting the' cartridge in a compartment containing a sound-head and a driving wheel, in the cabinet of the set. Such' record cartridges usually include an elapsed-time or footage indicator and must, if the record is a long-playing one, contain a reciprocating mechanism for winding the wireA uniformly on4 the reels. While the prior art is replete with indicating devices and with movable wire-guides such mechanisms have heretofore comprised separate entities having numerous discrete parts which cannot conveniently be included in a, cartridge or casing where space is at a premium.

Accordingly, the principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved combination of telegraphone parts including a reciprocating wire guide and footage-indicator and one which.'

by reason of the simplicity and economy of its parts and the compactness of its structure, may be incorporated in a telegraphone-record cartridge of standard form and dimensions.

Another and important object of the' invention is to achieve the foregoing principal object in a structure wherein that portion of the wire which is presented to the sound-head of therecording and reproducing apparatus is completely insulated from shocks and tremors which are present on the wire as an incident tothe application thereto of the mechanical force required to ensure uniform winding.

The invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective with the casing in` phantom,.of a telegraphone-'record cartridge containing a wire-guide and elapsed-time indicator constructed in accordance with the principle of the invention. l I

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the reel assembly wire guide and indicator of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one of the gears of the device taken along the line III-III `of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is fragmentary plan viewtaken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 2 showing the window through which the indicator is viewed.

2 the .invention (notably, the elapsed-time `indica-` tor or dial 9 and the reciprocating wire guide I0.

which is associated therewith) are shown as applied to a plural-wire-telegraphone cartridge which is similar in certain respects to the cartridges described and claimed in copending applications Ser. Nos. 628,295 and 584,197, now Patent No. 2,507,385,' dated May 9, 1950', to the same inventor. Thus, as in the n i'st mentioned application, the cartridge itself comprises a rectangular casing l containing a storage reel and a take-up reel 2, 3 2', 3', for each of the wires 4 and 4' and a pair of wire driving rollers 5 and t around which the wires are wrapped. An aperture 1 at the leading or lower end of the casing or 'cartridge l admits a pair of sound heads (not shown), for the separate wires and a rubbertired driving wheel (not shown) for the rollers 5 and 6, when the cartridge is inserted in the cabinet of the set (not shown). A window 8 at the opposite end or top ofthe casing i reveals a portion of the 4dial 9 of the elapsed-time indicator of the present invention.

As will hereinafter more fully appear, the dial 9 is geared to the reel assembly and is in the form of a wheel having an undulate cam surface Bf which imparts a reciprocating movement to a both of the wires 4-and 4' to be wound uniformly in the reel grooves.

It willV be observed that the -wires 4 and 4' in the'journey between their separate storage and take-up reels travel twice around the`ro1lers 5 andbefore being presented to the sound-head aperture 1 vso that any undesired mechanical vibration which may be set up in the said wires by the reciprocating action of the wire guide Il are eilectively eliminated by the snubbing action'. of the said rollers 5 and 6. Since'the wires 4 anc' 4' travel similar paths around the separate group: of grooves'a, b and c on the driven rollers 5 ancl 8 a description of one path will serve as a description of both. The path of the wire 4 fron its storage reel 2 to its take-up reel 3 is as follows. From reel 2 through the'lowerr'nostislot s, in the wire guide I0 to and around the groove 5a on roller 5, from groove 5a the wire crosses over to the next higher groove 6b on the other roller 6, then straight across the aperture l to the groove 5b on the first roller, then around the said groove 5b through the next higher slot (on the opposite edge of the wire guide l0) to the In the accompanying drawing the elements of take-up reel 3. It will be understood that each of the (four) slots s on the wire guide I is in register with the particular reel which it serves.

It will be noted from the foregoing description of the paths of the wires 4 and 4 that only two (of the three) grooves in each group of grooves (a, 6a, etc.) are used on each of the rollers 5 and 6. Thus the p groove 5c on roller l and the bottom groove 6a on roller 6 are not utilized and hence could be omitted, if desired. However, it is preferable to make the rollers 5 and 6 of duplicate construction so that, in their assembly, it 4is immaterial which roller is placed upon a given roller shaft.

The force required to maintain uniform tension on the separate wires 4, 4 is exerted on the reel end of each wire, preferably by means of clock springs II (II) and I2 (I2) which are mounted within the reels 2 (2') and 3 (3'), as taught in copending application Ser. No. 584,197 to the same inventor. The springs II-II, I2I2 for the separate pairs of reels 2 2', 3-3' are secured at their inner or shaft ends each to a collar I3 and I3', respectively (see Fig. 2) and the springs of a. given pair are wound in opposite directions to maintain the tension on the wires 4, 4' irrespective of the direction of the driving force applied to the y driving rollers 5 and 6. The springs thus prevent the development of slack in the wire due to differences in the effective diameter of the reels in winding from a full reel to an empty reel.

As shown in Fig. 2 there is a pinion I4 amxed to the outer surface of the bottom reel 2 about the axis of rotation of the reels. The pinion I4 drives the dial 9 through a reduction gear mechanism comprising gears I5' to 2I inclusive. The last gear in this train comprises a toothed arcuate slot 2l (see Fig. 3) in the base of the cup-shape dial-wheel i). An inverted cup-shape member 22 which is seated within the cup-shape wheel 3 serves as a cover for the gear train. I'he pinion I4 and the gears I1, I8 and 2I revolve about the same axis as the reels. and thel gears numbered I5, I6, I9 and 20 which mesh therewith, revolve on an auxiliary spindle 23 which is secured to the base of the casing I. The small gears II and 20 which revolve about the spindle 23 are welded to the larger gears I5 and I9, respectively, and the small gear I8 is welded to the large gear I1.

It will be now apparent that as the reels revolve in either direction under the iniiuence of the force applied thereto by the driving rollers 5 and 6 through the wires 4 and 4' the dial 8 is driven at a reduced speed by the gear train, I4l

to 2l.

A previously brought out and as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the rim of the cup-shape dial-wheel 9 is provided with an undulate or saw-tooth edge 9'. This edge 9' comprises a cam surface and there is a. cam follower in the form of a pin or roller IIir (see Fig. 2) on the wire-guide III which is biased to'bear against the said cam surface by :ins of a coi1 'spring 24 which is wrapped about.

stantially to the width of the reelgrooves. Thus.

since each of the four slots s` in-the wire guide is allotted to a particular reel each slot always remains in register with the groove in that reel and causes the wire ,to be spread evenly therein.

1n the inustrated embodiment of the invention each of the two wire records 4 and 4' has a playing time of fifteen minutes, i. e. thirty minutes l in all. The wires are wound in the same direction on each pair of reels but the recordings on the separate wires are made (and played) in opposite directions. Accordingly, it is necessary to reverse the motor at the end of each 15-minute cycle in order to achieve a full 30-minute recording or playing period. This may be done automatically, if desired. for example by means of a pair of microswitches each having a lever arm 26 (Fig. 2) Vwhich projects from the cabinet of the set through the casing I into the path of the ends of a small lug or stop 21 on the base or bottom of the dial 9.

When the wire-records 4 and 4 are wound and driven in the manner above described the face of the dial 3 is preferably provided with two sets of numeral, each individual to one 15-minute period. Thus, as shown in Fig. l, there are at least fifteen waves or crests in the undulate edge of the dial and the dial surface adjacent to each crest is marked with two numbers selected in sequence from the groups 0-15, -15-30 and whose total in each case adds up to "30." These separate numbers are preferably marked in contrasting colors. As the dial moves to the left (as viewed in Fig. 4) past the window 8 the numbers to the left of the center of the crest indicate the minutes which have elapsed from the start of the 30 minute playing time and the numbers to the right of center indicate the number of minutes remaining. As previously set forth, the direction of movement of the dial reverses at the end of each l5-minute period. Accordingly, when the dial moves past the window 3 from left to right the elapsed playing time is indicated by the number to the right of center and the remaining minutes of playing time are indicated by the number to the left of center.

It will now be apparent that the present invention provides an improved long-playing telegraphone cartridge and one characterized by the simplicity and economyof its parts.

What is claimed is:

1. In a, reeling mechanism-for a magneticwire record, a storage reel and take-up reel for said wire mounted for rotation about a common axis, means spaced from said axis for imparting rotation to said reels through said wire, a wireguide mounted within said space for movement parallel to said axis in the rpath of said wire,A

1 driven relation with respect to said reels, and a Thus, as the dial 9 revolves the cam follower mounted on said wire guide in contact with said cam surface for imparting a reciprocating movement to `said wire upon rotation of said reels.

2.. In a reeling mechanism for a magneticwire record, a plurality of reels mounted for rotation about a common axis, a plurality of driving rollers mounted in spaced relation with respect to said axis and around which said wire is adapted to be driven from one reel to another,

-a wire guide mounted within said space for movement parallel to said axis in the path of said wire, an indicator mounted for rotation about said axis and mechanically coupl( d in driven relation with respect to said reels, said indicator having an undulate cam surface thereon, and a cam follower mounted on said wire guide in contact with said cam surface for impartinga reciprocating movement to `said wire REFERENCES CITED upon rotation of said reels. c The following references are of record in the 3. The invention as set forth 1n claim 2 and me of this patent:

wherein said Wire is wrapped at least twice x around each of said driving rollers whereby to 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS minimize, vibrations incident to the application Number Name Date of said reciprocating force to said wire through 602,585 Moore 5.---- Apr. 19, 1898 said wire guides. 1,499,521 Hagemann July 1, 1924 4. The invention as set forth in claimv 2 and 1,718,355 Gift, Jr June 25, 1929 wherein said indicator comprises a cup-shape 10 2,306,660 'Hutchison Dec. 29, 1942 receptacle containing said mechanical coupling Y and provided with indicia on the outer surface of the side wall of said cup.

TERRY M. SHRADER. 

